Shoukan no Kuragari
by Sefrys
Summary: Cursed with the lack of an important power, but instead blessed with another one, one that had disappeared for thousands of years. Schooled by his ancestor, he will now strive to redeem the darkness caused by his mentor, or will die trying. However... will he resist the evil, or will he be consumed by the darkness?


**Ohayo, people! This is a more planned rewrite of my other story "Heir of the Dark Mage". My first attempt at writing it was completely without preparation and with terrible grammar. This one should turn out much better.**

**So yeah, read and please tell me what you think about it!**

**Also: Props to "KitsuneDragon" for partial beta over this chapter (~3000 words) and pointing out a serious grammar mistake.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.**

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**Shoukan no Kuragari - Redemption of Darkness**

_Chapter 1 _

Konohagakure no Sato, a beautiful, powerful and peaceful place, a village that was deemed the most powerful one in the world as it was the most victorious in the past battles. From the First to the Third Great Shinobi War, it came on top through the bloodshed, murder and betrayal. Its inhabitants' will of fire burned like a malicious inferno, not letting anyone extinguish it. Now it was many years after the war ended, and the village only seemed to keep prospering.

But even the greatest, tallest and oldest tree has its darkness. A shadow hidden beneath the leaf of the tree's crown that would never be able to see the sun's light through the countless leaves unless the whole tree withered down.

What was that shadow? How could we understand it? That was a good question, but with so many answers it was impossible to see the truth, so there was no point in answering.

While a large amount of inhabitants carried on with happy lives, with no threat hanging above them, there were some people who were forced to live the worst nightmares one could imagine.

One of these people was a young, six year old boy who went by name Naruto. His naturally spiky, blonde hair was dirty and his face was adorned with two sky blue orbs and three whisker marks on each cheek giving the young boy an animalistic quality. He was a short boy for his age, roughly three feet and eight inches tall, mainly because he was very malnourished.

But what sort of nightmare did he live, would you ask? This boy, Uzumaki Naruto, was hated for something he had no control over. Most, if not everyone in the village hated, despised and ignored, because of how shallow a human's mind was.

Six years ago on the 10th of October, Konohagakure no Sato was unexpectedly attacked by a monstrous creature, known as the Kyuubi no Yoko, a nine tailed, demonic fox, capable of destroying mountains, causing tsunamis and tearing apart the earth by creating fissures with a simple swing of its tail. That gigantic creature was truly a sight to fear and behold. It was filled to the brim with the darkest, evilest hate that could ever exist, and to make things worse, it could not be, by any means, killed.

It belonged to the Nine Bijuu, the Tailed Beasts. The origins of these demons were unknown, but they existed ever since anyone could remember and then even earlier.

No one could kill them because they were simply large amounts of chakra that were given consciousness. Even if someone managed to make one of them perish, it would recreate itself after some time.

But what did it have to do with the hate directed towards Naruto? And what actually happened on October 10th? As I said earlier, Konohagakure no Sato was attacked by one of these creatures, the strongest of them – Kyuubi.

It appeared out of thin air in the middle of village, surprising the villagers and immediately started to rampage through it. Konoha would have been doomed if not for their current hero, the Fourth Hokage. The man managed to defeat the Kyuubi, by sealing it into an infant and giving away his life in progress.

Yes, the infant I spoke about was Naruto, the exact same Naruto who now, six years later was running through the tight alleys in one of the poorest districts in Konoha. Unknown to him, in his stomach, sleeping within the cage of Naruto's subconscious mind, was the mightiest beast known to mankind, Kyuubi no Yoko, which made him a Jinchuuriki – The power of human sacrifice.

You might already have noticed the reason behind peoples hate towards the boy. People knew that the demon was sealed into him, but due to their trauma caused by its attack six years ago, they chose to vent out their anger, hate and will for revenge on his small, malnourished body in hope that it would hurt the demon.

A few weeks ago, he was thrown out of the orphanage, forcing him to live outside on the streets. Yes, Naruto was an orphan and he did not know anything about his parents.

Even in the orphanage he had no easy life. He was constantly kept either in the attic or in the basement. Not that he would complain, he still got bread and water and he was mostly safe from harm. However, since he had no roof above his head, he was prey to the hungry rabid dogs and by rabid dogs, I mean humans, as he ran through tight alleys, trying to avoid two men who definitely had evil intentions. Here we come… meet Uzumaki Naruto, a despised and hated child, whose life would change this night.

* * *

A sound of feet splashing into a puddle echoed through a dark alley, followed by a groan of pain as skin on the fugitive's feet was torn off of his dirty, bare feet when he skidded behind a corner. He felt like his lower body would give away any moment now as his legs felt like they were on fire after roughly fifteen minutes of running away.

A quick glance behind his shoulder confirmed his dread. He was chased and would be caught again. He wished for his grandfather figure to come and save him, like he did few times before. But it was in the middle of night, and the chances of anyone coming to help him were slim. His eyes began to tear as he knew what awaited him. There was no way a six years old boy could escape two grown men. His malnourished condition didn't help at all.

_"Why… why is it always me?" _The blonde thought as he desperately tried to escape. He could clearly hear the footsteps of men running behind him. They would easily catch him if they wanted right now, but he knew that they played with him. _"What have I done to deserve this?"_

He let out a sob as his legs finally gave away. The painfully tired boy fell down onto the ground, landing in a puddle of cold water. There was nothing he could do when he heard the men's evil chuckle. The boy couldn't make out their faces as they were covered in a blanket of night.

"I will enjoy this you demon." One of men said and cracked his knuckles, which made the child curl up in a ball. He let out a painful yelp when he was yanked up by his hair. His cape that covered his naked upper body was ripped away, and a piece of it was pushed into his mouth to prevent him from yelling.

_"Someone, please help me…" _He sobbed, and then felt something sharp scratch his back roughly, leaving a long trail of blood. The young boy's hoarse cries were muffled by the piece of material stuck in his mouth. _"I don't want to die… I'm scared…"_

His skin on his back was being torn up by whatever the men used, and then the wounds began to burn like an inferno as salt was roughly rubbed into his back. His eyes shot open widely as another cry of pain was muffled.

"We won't kill you, don't you worry. After all, we don't want our toy to die yet." One of his torturers said to him, and a second later a large flap of skin was torn from his lower back. "However, we won't grieve if you accidentally die, so lay here and bleed out will you please?"

He was thrown forward, landing on the ground. He heard them leave, leaving the boy lying on the ground, yelling from the pain through the cloth. He managed to spit it out after a moment, and tried ignoring the pain. He needed to find the person he called a grandfather, or he would die.

As he tried crawling, he noticed a person that stood two meters away from him under a lantern, revealing the man's dark hair and rather noble red clothes. The bleeding child froze in fear, expecting the worst. However, at the same time he knew that it was either his death or salvation.

He tried to speak, but couldn't find his voice. The pain was too much to handle. However, the red clad person whispered to himself. "Even after such long time… people can't understand the value of human life…" He uttered and slowly turned around.

"P-please… help… me…" The young boy said with shaky, tired childish voice. "D-don't… leave…"

The person turned around quickly and his dark eyes widened slightly, seeing the child reach its arm and cling onto the man's robes. "Impossible…" The man uttered and placed a hand on the boy's scalp.

When his hand touched they boy's blonde hair, he staggered in shock. _"This can't be… a mere human shouldn't be able to see me and definitely not touch me." _He thought surprised. _"Me, a three dimensional being is unable to come to contact with two dimensional being, humans and likewise they can't affect me, unless they are… but this means that this boy is…!"_

He felt the boy's grip on his cloth loosen, as his arm fell to the ground. The raven haired man noticed quickly that the boy lost consciousness. The wound on his back was way too large for him to survive, if the bleeding wouldn't be stopped soon, he would bleed out and be welcome by the cold embrace of death.

Seeing that he could somehow come in physical contact with the boy, he kneeled down and placed his left hand above it with middle and index finger stretched forwards, and his right hand above the left with an entire palm opened. He quickly called upon his power that resulted in a silvery-purple circle filled with unknown symbols to appear. His hands changed color into a dark purple, and they seemed to seep out a dark liquid.

Once a large blob of liquid fell onto the skin-less back, the blonde boy's skin started to grow back at a rapid pace. A few seconds later, there was no sign of the wound, except the skin

having a greyish purple color.

The blonde's savior repeated the progress on his damaged feet and chest, successfully stopping the death threat. The black eyed man sighed in relief seeing that the boy was alright. "To think, that after such long time another one like me exists, and better yet, one with my blood running through his veins…" He narrowed his slightly slit eyes. "This event will surely happen again… I won't let it happen."

He carefully picked the unconscious boy from the ground and held him in a bridal style. A black mist seeped out from beneath his feet and covered him and the boy entirely. And then it suddenly vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving no trail after the two.

* * *

A pair of eyes twitched few times and opened, revealing two bright, albeit tired, blue orbs. The blonde's eyes found themselves staring at a dark, uneven ceiling. _"Where am I?" _Thought the boy, before the memories of the torture hit him. He winced inwardly, but he felt no pain. He couldn't smell the annoying smell of hospital, there was no sound of machines beeping and the walls weren't white. He felt very comfortable, though. As if he was laying on something incredibly soft. _"Did I die?"_

Then came the memory of the man he begged for help, and then there was nothing. He couldn't remember. _"I see, I must have blacked out…" _He thought and heard a sound of something scraping against floor. He tried standing up or moving his head to see what was that, but he found himself unable to move.

The calm feeling he felt before disappeared, and was replaced by fear. _"I can't move!" _He thought with shock. He tried to speak, but he couldn't move his lips or tongue. His eyes were the only thing he could move. With the corner of his eyes, he noticed a red robed person walking around. He couldn't make out the details as he had to move his head in order to do so.

The person who walked around him noticed that the blonde's eyes were open. "Oh, I see that you're finally awake." The unknown person spoke softly. When he noticed the boy's wide and scared eyes, he smiled softly. "Don't be afraid, I merely placed a spell on you to prevent you from moving. Your body is still very weak." He explained and swiped his right hand above the boy's face. "There, you should be able to speak. Now, what is your name, child?"

The man's soft voice managed to calm the blonde child down. "U-Uzumaki… Naruto." Naruto answered. He managed to move his face a little to right to see the stranger's face.

He looked like a fairly young man who wore an open red robe with gold trimmings, a large collar and a large white toga draped around his main body and across his chest. His hair was black that spiked a little towards the top and had black eyes. From his neck, hanging was a circle-shape necklace.

"Who are you?" Naruto whispered cautiously. He didn't want to anger the man who had control over his body. He didn't show it, but Naruto could feel an immense amount of power coming from that man.

"My name is… Zeref." The raven haired man introduced himself. The name caused a phantom feeling of dread that came from Naruto's stomach. "I'm happy to finally meet my blood."

Naruto gulped. "W-What do you mean, blood?" His shaky, childish voice asked. The weird feeling in his stomach disappeared suddenly, something which made Naruto feel very strange.

Zeref sat down on a block of smooth stone near Naruto's side. "By blood, I mean that you and I are related. Even though very, very distant, we're family." He answered. The explanation caused few tears to form in Naruto's eyes.

Naruto shut his eyes tight to get rid of the tears. This felt way too well. This man couldn't be his family. "How do you know? You look nothing like me!" Naruto raised his voice.

Zeref reached to Naruto's scalp, something that made Naruto wince, thinking that he would be hit again. However, instead of feeling a punch or being yanked by hair, Zeref placed his hand on Naruto's hair and ruffled it. "I know that you are like me, because I can have physical contact with you, and I can speak with you." He explained.

Naruto didn't understand it, though. "What do you mean?" He asked, which made Zeref sigh.

"Humans are two dimensional beings, and they cannot be affected by me, a three dimensional being, and I can't affect them either." Seeing the confused look on Naruto's face, Zeref decided to explain it more directly. "Look, I was the strongest mage to ever live, and my power is still strong. Humans can't see me. I'm like a ghost to them."

Naruto nodded slightly, understanding some of what he meant. "So, I am a ghost too?" He asked slightly afraid.

Zeref chuckled at his silliness. "No Naruto-kun, you're not. What I want you to understand is that only those who have blood relation with me can see me."

The blonde child's eyes widened with realization. "S-So… you're my Tou-chan?" He asked with hope in his voice.

A chuckle escaped Zeref's lips. "No Naruto-kun, I am way too old to be your father, but I am your forefather." He explained and ruffled the blonde's hair.

Naruto seemed a bit down hearing that he was not his daddy, but an ancestor instead. "How old are you? You look like twenty." He pointed out, which made Zeref smile.

"I am over ten thousand years old, give or take few hundred years." He answered, making Naruto go bug-eyed right away.

The blonde chuckled nervously. "R-Really? You are this old?" He asked with disbelief clearly visible in his voice. He thought that oldest person he knew was his surrogate grandfather, Hiruzen Sarutobi who at the same time was a Hokage.

Zeref chuckled again when he saw Naruto's disbelief. "Wait a little. I'll get you something to drink." The raven haired man said and walked away from Naruto.

The small blonde took this moment to do a double take on where he was. He pushed himself up to his elbows and looked around, taking in details of the place he was in. The bed he was lying in was nothing more than a large smooth stone covered in large amount of animal furs of large variety.

The room however had a Spartan look to itself. It was a quite nicely managed cave with a simple desk with some scrolls, a fist-sized blue crystal that illuminated the room and a wooden chair.

There were some empty shelves, few objects lying here and there. Naruto freaked out a little when he noticed his dirty blue pants lying on a stone block, and came to conclusion that the only garment he wore were his boxers.

However he decided not to move as the bed felt so warm and soft. "Just where am I?" Naruto thought and brought his left arm up to scratch his forehead. That was when he noticed that skin on his arm was of greyish and purple color in some places. "W-What is that?!" He thought out loud.

That was when Zeref came back, carrying a wooden bowl of water. "Calm down kid, these scars were your wounds. The nature of my magic caused the change in color. Don't worry, it's only temporary." He explained and handed Naruto the bowl.

The blonde kid accepted it and eagerly drank it down, feeling refreshed. "So, you can do these tricks ninja do?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"Naruto-kun, I'm not a ninja." Zeref answered. "I am from time where dragons and magic were dominant on the world. I'm different from people today. Their source of energy is Chakra, which I don't know much about, and mine source of energy is Magic Power composed of Ethernano… you so far with me?" He asked when he saw the puzzled look on Naruto's face.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Uh, not really." He answered.

Zeref sighed. "Figures… Chakra is the power ninja require to use their tricks, you got it?" He asked, and seeing Naruto nod made him continue. "I have different power, Magic. It's much, much older than Chakra."

Naruto opened his mouth as he understood. "So you can't teach me how to be a ninja?" He asked with sad voice, which made Zeref chuckle.

"No Naruto-kun, even if I knew a lot about chakra, I wouldn't be able to teach you." He answered, making Naruto frown a bit.

"Why not?" Naruto asked a bit saddened.

Zeref placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "That's because, you do not have even an ounce of your own chakra inside you. You never had it in first place." He explained, making Naruto go wide eyed.

Before he could rant about this, Zeref continued. "You do have magic though, a large amount for your age. Unfortunately, it's the same nature as mine." He explained, confusing Naruto a little. "Since you're the only person capable of learning in this world aside from me, I will educate you in the laws of magic."

"What magic do I have?" He asked curiously. Even though he knew next to nothing about magic, he deduced correctly that were many types of magic.

"You will find out soon." He answered, getting a pout from Naruto.

"I have another question, how do you know that I have no chakra?" Naruto asked. He knew that Chakra was _very _important to human beings, and the fact that he held none shocked him.

"That's simple. I can feel magic coursing through you, and no human could store both Chakra and Magic, they'd collide with each other and destroy you from inside out." Zeref explained as simply as he could. Explaining such complicated things to a child was a difficult thing to do.

Naruto visibly gulped when Zeref mentioned that he would be destroyed from inside out. "Why would I be destroyed?" He asked out of curiosity.

Zeref tapped his chin and answered a few seconds later. "From what I know, a human body has a core of spiritual and physical energy that are in an equal balance, and when they are mixed together they create Chakra, so far with me?" He asked and got an eager nod from Naruto. "Magic on the other hand is the physical embodiment of the spirit. When the physical spirit of an organism connects with the spiritual flow of nature, the spirit forms Magic as a product of the connection." He explained.

Naruto took everything in like a sponge. Thing that Zeref explained were incredibly interesting, and the fact that this was the first time someone explained the mechanics of the world only helped. "What flow of nature?" He asked.

"I was about to explain it." Zeref said with a smile. "The spiritual flow of nature is particles of Magic that are everywhere and in everything. The correct term for this is Eternano. It dwells inside all living organism and throughout the atmosphere, and it have existed even before me. Eternano is the source of our power, Naruto." He spoke and was happy to see that Naruto was listening patiently. "While other humans have Chakra that is distributed through some network in the body, we mages have a container inside our bodies that determines the limits of our Magic power. If the case becomes empty, Eternano will come from the atmosphere and enter the mage's body and after a while, their Magic power will be restored."

Naruto's mouth was wide open in amazement. This sounded so amazing and interesting, that he only craved for more. Then Naruto remembered about something that worried him. "I know that you are explaining me about magic, but where exactly are we?" He asked.

"If my geographical assumption is correct, we are north-west from Konoha, nearby the border of two small countries." Zeref explained. The worried look in Naruto's eyes bugged him though.. "You are worried about something in that village of yours, Konoha if I'm not mistaken?"

Naruto was about to agree, but shook his head. "No, just that old man Hokage will be worried and he'll search after me…" He explained.

Zeref narrowed his eyes. "So, you want me to take you back to village?" He asked seriously.

Naruto's eyes widened in fear as the memories from previous night hit him. "N-No! Not yet… I want to learn magic and be stronger, so they won't attack me again!" The blonde objected.

"And what will you do once you return there?" The raven haired man questioned, awaiting Naruto's answer.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer immediately. "I want to become Hokage!" He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll become Hokage to make people acknowledge me!"

Zeref's smile disappeared. "Is that what you really want?" He asked and got a quick, eager nod in response. He sighed and stood up. "Very well Naruto, this is your choice now, but we'll see if it really is what you want after you're done with the training." He explained.

Naruto's face brightened up at the mentioning of training. "When do we start?" He asked eagerly. He had often asked old man Hokage to teach him ninja techniques, but his requests were in vain as he was too young.

The raven haired man shook his head at the boy's eagerness. "As soon as possible, but before we begin I have to ask you an important question."

The blonde six year old nodded. "What is it?" Naruto asked.

Zeref's face attained a grim look on his face. "Do you know the value of life?" He questioned with seriousness in his voice. "This is a serious question, take your time."

Naruto did not answer immediately. Instead, he took his time as Zeref told him to. _"The value of life, what is it?"_ He thought and thought for several minutes, but in the end his six years old brain couldn't come up with an answer. Finally, he gave up. "I… don't know." He answered with embarrassment.

"Would you kill someone without a second thought?" Zeref's question shocked Naruto. The blonde stayed frozen for a few seconds, but he shook his head in a no. "Would you kill a woman or a child without remorse because they did something you did not like?"

Naruto's body trembled a little. "No! Why are you asking me this?!" He shouted as his imagination worked overdrive, showing him images of himself killing people without remorse.

A sad look appeared on Zeref's face. "I'm asking you this, because in the past I did such things." He whispered with ashamed look on his face.

Naruto's mouth stayed open in shock for half a minute, before he managed to find his voice. "W-What?" He asked in shock. Zeref, this kind person who took care of him, a person who looked so kind, did he really do such things? "Y-You're lying, right?"

Zeref shook his head. "Naruto, back when magic still existed, during my reign and even after, people trembled in fear when they heard my name. I created demons, turned countries into ruins, forced people to fear me, just because I didn't know the value of life." He told Naruto, getting a fearful look in the young boy's eyes. "However, near the end of my reign, I met a woman who made me understood the value of life… Mavis Vermillion, the kindest person that ever existed…" He said and clenched his fists.

"When she made me understand, I couldn't help but be ashamed of my actions. I wished to perish, to stop existing, but I couldn't because I am immortal. When I thought that I was able to stop killing, my magic opposed me. My magic randomly lashed out every now and then, and I couldn't control it. I isolated myself from rest of the world on an island called Tenroujima. It belonged to Mavis, but she let me stay here and she made me fall asleep." He sighed loudly, a sad look still present on his face. "I stayed there with my magic asleep for over a century, but I was awakened by people who wanted to find me and use me to create a paradise… but by awakening me, they made me forget the value of life. It enraged me, and when I forgot about the value of life, I had entire control over my magic. A dozen years later I created a demon… a strongest demon to ever exist then and now. Not even dragons, not Dragon King, Acnologia could stand up to it. even I lost control over it. A single eyed, ten tailed demon that destroyed this world and created it a new. Because I am immortal, I suffered when I saw my creation destroy everything… It somehow recreated humans. Their anatomy was the same as it was before, but with a major difference. They had no magic coursing through them, but had this Chakra instead. I regained the knowledge about the value of human life, and not wanting to affect anything again I casted a spell over me, changing my being from two dimensional one to a third dimensional one."

He looked Naruto dead in the eyes, showing the tears that were formed in his eyes. "Around eight thousand years later, a man was born, a man with power greater than mine, eyes with power out of this world. That was the time when this beast decided to destroy the world again. However, this man managed to make the demon submit and sealed it within himself…" He sighed and wiped the tears from his eyes. "After all this time, after thousands of years I managed to keep my power under control while still knowing the value of life, and I will share the knowledge how I managed it with you."

They both stayed silent for a few minutes after Zeref's story. Naruto was speechless when Zeref finished. He never thought that a man who was this kind to him would be considered evil. "But… you aren't evil now?" Naruto asked with a whisper that left his lips. "You don't look like you would harm anyone again…"

Zeref's eyes widened when he heard Naruto's words. "You really think so?"

Naruto scratched his cheek. "I mean… you saved me and told me all that… I believe that you are a good person!" He answered with a wide, fox-like grin. "I want to learn your magic, and I will show the world that even the darkest, evilest power can be used for good!"

Zeref shook his head in amusement. This boy was definitely something else. _"With such heart… I doubt that he will have difficulty controlling his magic." _He thought with a faint smile on his lips. "Very well, Naruto-kun. I will help you achieving that." The immortal mage answered, getting a wide grin from Naruto in return. "Do you feel stiff or numb?"

Naruto jumped from the fur covered bed and did several stretches. "Not really, I feel as good as ever." The young blonde answered. However, he glanced down and noticed that he was only wearing a pair of boxers. When the cold air brushed against his body, he shuddered and took one of the fur coats that he slept under, and used it to cover his body from the cold. "I'm ready, sensei!"

Zeref nodded with a smile and pulled a few fur coats from the bed and threw them on the ground. When Naruto asked him what he was doing, Zeref merely sat down cross-legged on the makeshift carpet and motioned Naruto to sit in front of him.

Naruto was quite fidgety as he sat in front of his new found teacher. "So what do I do?" He asked in hurry.

The raven haired man held his hand up. "First, calm down. You need to unlock you magic and you can't reach it unless you're calm. Close your eyes and take deep breaths, just like I do." He said and closed his eyes, slowly taking deep breaths.

Naruto understood what he meant and closed his eyes, slowly taking the deepest breath he could and without holding it in his lungs, he let it out.

Zeref was pleased with how quick Naruto caught up what to do. "Keep your eyes closed and keep breathing deep." He tutored the young blonde. "Focus on yourself and find a warm sensation deep inside you. Once you find it, get a good grip on it and don't let go."

The blonde wasn't sure how he would grab a sensation, but decided to continue his focus. His deep breaths continued as he sat still on the fur covered floor. The feeling of calmness that came several minutes later amazed him.

As a person with terrible, dark and painful past, he never had a minute of peace or any sort of pleasure from enjoying something. Even the short meeting with the old man Hokage had no such things, as he either was scolded or merely given some advice, nothing else. Not even a single toy for a six years old child, or even a cloth.

Therefore, when the calmness from the meditation he attempted washed over his body, he felt absolutely amazed. The feeling of peace and faint warmth that he began feeling was exhilarating. His face was still and had a content look on it. However, even though he could feel the faint warm feeling somewhere deep inside him, he couldn't get close enough to "get a grip" on it, as Zeref told him.

"Alright, Naruto, that's enough for today." Naruto's teacher in magic suddenly announced, which threw Naruto off balance.

The blonde's eyes fluttered open and his sight fell onto Zeref, who was holding a wooden bowl full of steaming soup. "Why? That was barely five minutes." He asked and took the soup that was offered to him.

Zeref chuckled at the boy's statement. "That's the wonder of meditation, Naruto. You think that it was five minutes?" He asked, and got a quick nod as Naruto greedily drank the soup down. "You've been sitting here meditating for over four hours."

The last words made Naruto choke on the soup. After he managed to cough it up – with a helpful, hard slap on his back – he looked at Zeref with disbelief written all over his face. "Four hours?! It felt like five minutes!" He sputtered in shock.

The raven haired man chuckled at Naruto's disbelief. "It's always like this. Once you dive down into yourself, into the magic's warmth, it's so comfortable that time just flies by." He briefly explained. "Now, what did you feel? Did you find the warmth I told you about?"

Naruto's face fell a little. He didn't want to disappoint a person that was this kind to him. "I could feel it faintly, but I couldn't… get a grip on it…" The blonde answered with a whisper. "I'll get it right next time, I promise!"

The boy's desperate voice echoed through the cave, filled with fear of rejection, which made Zeref sigh. "Naruto, you did very well. I don't expect you to achieve it with a single meditation. Heck, very few people could actually feel their magic's warmth on first try, I'm proud of your accomplishment." The older mage explained and ruffled Naruto's hair.

A wide grin split Naruto's face so much, that it sent a slight shiver down Zeref's spine. "Thank you!" He said loudly and then proceeded with a question. "So, what do I do now?"

Zeref tapped his chin in a deep thought. He could let Naruto keep meditating in search of his magic, as it pretty much rested the body like a good sleep. That was when he looked at the boy's abdomen. He was so malnourished, that Zeref could easily count his ribs. Therefore, the physical training was down for the count, as it would be counterproductive with such weak body.

"Hmm, we can't jump straight to physical training as you need to be well nourished…" He answered and then reminded himself of the fact that Naruto was a lonely orphan. A smile appeared on his face as he sat down in front of Naruto. "Do you want to hear a story about dragons?"

Naruto's eyes sparked with glee when Zeref offered to tell him about the mythical creatures. "Yes!" He exclaimed.

The raven haired mage opened his palm and surged his magic through it, creating a silhouette of a black dragon above it. "Very well, the dragons were the most majestic and powerful creatures that dominated the world, thousand years ago…"

This was what continued for a few days. Naruto would meditate, slowly getting a grasp on his magic, then he would stuff himself with all the food Zeref managed to acquire – He had no need to eat himself, as he was immortal. – And then he would either learn the theories behind magic or listen to the stories Zeref told him.

A week had passed, and Naruto had to admit that every moment spent with Zeref was the best as it could get. Even though Zeref had a very grim past, Naruto ignored that and focused on how kind he was right now. The wounds from last week were already gone, leaving only faint scars on his back.

Right now, Naruto was sitting in a cross-legged position, breathing deep and slow, focusing as good as he could. Over the past week, he meditated ten hours a day which brought him closer and closer to bringing his magic into the surface, and this time, he knew that he would make it.

Again, the same feeling of peace washed over him, making every single muscle in his body relax. The warmth that he felt deep inside him was at arm's reach, only waiting to be grabbed. The blonde imagined himself reaching for a ball of warm, blue flames that burned brightly in the infinite darkness that was his soul. Slowly, an inch after an inch, the flame was closer and closer and then... his hand closed itself, catching the azure flame within its grasp.

Naruto's body twitched as he let out a short gasp and shivered. If the earlier feeling of peace and warmth was amazing, now it was even greater. Following Zeref's instructions, he grabbed the source of his magic as tightly as he could and opened his eyes.

"How do you feel?" Zeref asked as he felt the flux of Eternano in the air, which indicated that Naruto unlocked his magic source. The content smile and the prideful look in the blonde's eyes were enough of a proof.

"It feels like… something I've been missing was returned to me." Naruto answered as he felt warmth from earlier expand over his entire body. "It's hard to describe."

Zeref nodded and offered Naruto a hand that he gladly accepted. "Before we begin your training for real, I'll teach you something that will solve eventual problems of you being absent from Konoha." He announced, and seeing that Naruto nodded without questions he continued. "It will make a solid copy of you, one that you can send all the way to Konoha. It's called _Tough Projection_…_" _

* * *

A few days later back in Konoha, an elderly man sat behind his desk with his brain running overdrive, trying to figure out the location of a certain blonde brat.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Konoha's third Hokage was on verge of exploding with anger after hearing that the orphanage kicked him out. His wrinkled face was twisted in an annoyed grimace as he stared into a crystal ball that was standing on his desk.

The crystal ball was no regular toy, though. It was heavily reinforced with various sealing techniques to the point where it was nearly indestructible, and it's most important ability was the ability to use it as a 'telescope' to spy over every single square feet of Konoha.

Right now, the old Hokage felt like ripping his grey hair off his scalp. How in the world could Naruto suddenly 'disappear' into thin air? He had dispatched a quite large team of Chunin ranked Shinobi to look after him a few hours ago, but unfortunately they brought no good news.

How in the world could a six years old boy hide so well? He couldn't search after Naruto by tracking his Chakra because no one could sense it inside him. Hiruzen suspected though, that it was because of the seal that kept the Nine-Tailed Demon at bay, as there was no known disease that caused lack of Chakra.

"Come on Naruto, where in the world are you?" Hiruzen muttered to himself, as he tried his best at locating Naruto with the crystal ball. "Danzo will surely cause a shit storm when the word about Naruto's absence reaches his ears…"

Shimura Danzo, an old war-hawk that was Hiruzen's old team mate was surely a powerful individual. This person always placed the village, Konoha, as the most important thing in the world. If he heard that Kyuubi's vessel disappeared, that would really upset him.

A sudden knock on the door made him stop searching. "It's open!" The Hokage shouted in a rather angry tone.

The doors opened to reveal a young, black haired Chunin. His skin color was tan and his face had a rather annoying look on his face. He also had a scar running across the bridge of his nose.

Much to Hiruzen's relief, next to the Chunin was the person he looked after – Naruto, who had a rather embarrassed look on his face.

"Thank god you found him, Iruka-kun." Hiruzen sighed and slumped down into his chair. "Where was he?"

A grimace formed on Iruka's face. "I found him sleeping in the forest next to the northern gate." He answered, which got a frown in return.

"I see. Thank you, you are free to leave." Hiruzen ordered the Chunin. As soon as Iruka left the room, the Hokage turned to Naruto with a much softer look on his face. "Now, Naruto-kun, you know how worried I was about you?"

The blonde child nervously scratched his chin and chuckled sheepishly. "Uh… very?" He asked and got a short laugh from Hiruzen.

"Well, that doesn't matter now since you're here." The old man exclaimed and then pulled out a small envelope from under his desk. "What matters is, we have to get you a place to live after you were… thrown out of the orphanage…" The last words felt like acid on his tongue. Hiruzen already had 'talked' with the matron in Konoha's orphanage, which caused in her losing her job.

Naruto's eyebrows rose as he got a thousand watt smile on his face. "Really?! I'll have my own house!" He shouted and literally bounced around Hokage's office.

Hiruzen laughed heartedly at the boy's actions. They truly were amusing. "Now, now, come on. We don't have a whole day, do we?" He asked and got a quick and eager nod from Naruto. "Well then, let's go!" He finished and walked through the office's door.

Before Naruto followed him though, he heard a familiar voice. "Remember that are to behave like you never met me before, right?" The voice said. Naruto glanced to his right and noticed Zeref standing there.

Naruto gave him a quick nod response along with a low whisper. "I'm a projection, after all…" He answered and followed the Hokage.

Zeref sighed in relief. _"That went better than I thought it would…" _He thought. _"Now, let's go back to the real Naruto." _He mused and disappeared into black mist.

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open when he felt the Eternano shifting nearby. He instantly knew that it was his forefather and teacher, Zeref. A smile crept onto his face, as he knew that his training officially began now. "How did it go?" Naruto asked, referring to bringing his Tough Projection back to Konoha.

"Quite well, I have to say. He didn't suspect anything." Zeref explained as he seated himself in front of Naruto. "I suspect that he doesn't even know about your near-death experience."

Naruto sighed and stood up from the cross-legged position, stretching his short body a little. "That doesn't matter, does it? Now let's get to the training!" He eagerly exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Alright then, since you mastered the Though Projection in three days, I think we'll be fine if we start with few mediocre spells. After you get them down, you'll master them perfectly, and I mean, perfectly." Zeref exclaimed and raised his arm up.

A small seal formed underneath him. Naruto noticed the swirling blanket of dark magic, covering most of Zeref's arm. Like some shield of sorts.

Seeing Naruto's interest, Zeref proceed with explanations. "This is simple, yet powerful defensive spell. It materializes a dark matter and covers my arm, protecting me from physical attacks. Its resistance depends on your power and control." He finished and dismissed the spell.

"What's its name?" Naruto asked after the magic disappeared.

"It doesn't have any. I find no need in calling my spells anything else than Dark Magic." Zeref answered. "But if you want, you can call it whatever you want after you learn it."

The blonde smiled widely. "So how do I do it?"

"The first step is to focus on your magic, then gather it around your arm..."

* * *

**This is the first chapter. I'll publish a new one once I geet a good feedback on this one. So please, review and tell me what you think!**

**Oh, by the way. No, this will not be Yaoi (I fucking hate those) and there will be no pairing for long (and I mean, LOOOONG) time. I'll probably start going towards the pairing after Pain's invasion (If Nagato will still be alive, that is).**


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